Is there anywhere else on earth quite like this city? At the moment, I think not. It blew us away. And quite literally too, but more on that in a minute.
I have never been to such a place where construction is everywhere. E. V. E. R. Y. W. H. E. R. E. Everywhere you looked you were either seeing road barriers, construction workers and labourers or cranes. So many cranes. Lyndon was in heaven.
It took us about an hour on a straight (straight) road which basically took us literally into the center of Dubai. We parked the car (on good advice) at Mall of the Emirates and browsed the shops for a good 90 minutes. Mall of the Emirates is the place where they have 'Ski Dubai' - 400 meter ski slope indoors. Amazing. We were also happy to find a Borders, a Campers Shoe Store and also not one, but two H&M stores! (Love H&M!)
From the Mall we decided to catch one of those Big Bus Tours (also on good advice!) as it would save Lyndon driving and we could get on and off where we wanted and see all the famous sites (and some sights they were!) We sat up the top and bloody hell, was it windy up there!
The first thing we spied when we were on the tour was this...
The Burj Dubai. Photographs don't quite capture the enormity of it all. This is the tallest building in the world, standing currently at like 850 meters high. (I thought the Eureka in Melbourne was tall - but no, it isn't when compared to this.) My sister looked over at me and said "Its like something out of Sim City!" and she was right. (We were and probably still are, big Sim City fans!) After she said that, low and behold, around the corner we spied this scene - directly out of Sim City...
The bus tour took us to about eight different malls (no kidding - Shopping Malls are everywhere in Dubai - no wonder they say it is Shopping Heaven here!) and then we finally got to see up close, what I had been waiting to see in the flesh (for so very long), the Burj Al Arab Hotel.
What a stunning landmark.
We hopped off at the Souk Madinat, close to the Burj Al Arab to find some food and a drink. The Souk was lovely with lots of stalls in a grand building and lots of restaurants on the waters edge.
Back on the bus, it took us down to 'Atlantis on The Palm'. It was here when I turned to Lyndon and said "This place is effing crazy!" I was lost for words. The Palm Island, fully man made is simply amazing. It even had a deep tunnel we entered to reach the 'Atlantis', which I still can't get my head around. A tunnel on a man-made island. How does that work? To see this newly opened hotel was jaw-dropping...
It was like nothing I have ever seen before. Just amazing.
The bus took us back to where we had taken off from five hours prior.
The drive home back down the road was easy, once we could navigate the road getting from going north to south (lack of signage!) but we got home a little over an hour later, with our minds ticking over what we had seen and done in Sim City.
I'm looking forward to going back.
(My sister left this morning - I suspect the next time we see her it will hopefully be in her stomping ground not too far down the track!)
16 comments:
So futuristic!
This is ALL unbelievable, Melody.....I feel like there is a whole world there that I was totally unfamiliar with---In fact, REALLY did not know existed...!!!
This is a fantastic education from you, my dear...And I hope you will keep sharing more and more and more....
Truthfully, the whole thing looks almost unreal in a way--Like out of a dream....The City Of Oz....!
AMAZING!
There must be a lot of money there----An Understatement, I know! LOL!
What a place! I remember flying out of Dubai on my way to Melbourne and even just looking at it frrom the plane was complete wonder.
My blogless girlfriend ( who actually also reads your blog, this might prompt her out of lurkdom ? ) ate at the Burj Al Arab Hotel last year - she brought us back the menu and i'm pretty sure the kid's meals were $60ph ( for a burger with chips ) - although the burger was Wagyu Beef.. anyway they were kind enough to let her two small-eaters share the one plate ;)
Gorgeous pictures, it all sounds quite unreal. Is there room on your couch for a family of 4 ? :p
Truly bizarre-oh Mel!
I am also totally loving your pictorials, being a fellow Middle East fan these posts are leaving me wanting more and more, and more. I know I've said it before but I just have to say it again....YOU ARE SO GODDAMN LUCKY!!! I so wish it was me, would they employ me as a caterer to the Leighton crew ;-)
Wouldn't we have fun!!!
PS: Ha ha ha, word veri on this one is 'pongs'.
Absolutely incredible. Did you notice if they were working on the largest building or not? I heard they had to stop construction due to a shortage of funds?
What a great post Melody! Thanks.
Well... that's what a budget without limits can do for an architect!
Yes! it is like Sime City. The Burj Dubai is higher than I am here on my mountain :O
I was in London a few days ago and was thinking of your sister in the warmth whilst I was suffering -10 degree C temperatures there.
I HEART the Burj-Al-Arab. If you get a chance in low season they have some pretty good deals and it certainly worth the price for the OTT experience.
I never thought of Dubai being Sim City but I think you have hit the nail on the head...
I have to agree the signage from the Mall of the Emirates to get back to AD is pretty crap :-)
Amazing. Burj Al Arab Hotel is the only site that I've heard of before. The photos of Tiger Woods hitting a tee shot from the helicopter pad was amazing. Thanks for the tour!
Hi Melody, looks like you are settling into your new life nicely!!! What a cool city and I have to say that I am green with envy at the fact you have a Camper shoe shop and H&M....sigh wish we had them here in NZ!!!! Happy new year to you all, hope it brings all you dream of........... X
These photos you post just blow me away. It's such a vast difference to here, isn't it!
OH that is just fantastic! :D
It looks absolutely amazing.
Stunning Pictures and well captured too. Really futuristic!
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